3 Research - Korea & UK

Korea - the lowest fertility rate in the world

The Republic of Korea is the largest among East Asian and Southeast Asian societies currently experiencing ultra-low (or ‘lowest-low’) period total fertility rates (Yoo, SH. &, Sobotka, T., 2018). 

The total fertility rate in a specific year is defined as the total number of children that would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years and give birth to children in alignment with the prevailing age-specific fertility rates. It is calculated by totalling the age-specific fertility rates as defined over five-year intervals (OECD Data, 2019). Assuming no net migration and unchanged mortality, a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman ensures a broadly stable population.

Real talk in South Korea

"Rather than be part of a family, I'd like to be independent and live alone and achieve my dreams," says 24-year-old YunHwa (BBC World, 2018)

"My boss said, 'Once you have a child your child is going to be your priority and the company will come second, so can you still work?" Moon-Jeong says when she told her boss she was expecting a child, she was shocked by his reaction. "I think there are many cases where women get concerned when they're pregnant and you have to think very hard before announcing your pregnancy," she says.

Another factor putting people off starting a family is the cost. While state education is free, the competitive nature of schooling means parents are expected to fork out for extra tuition just so their child can keep up.

Why Korean women don't want to have a child? (Poon, L., 2018)

- long working hours

- gender inequality at work 

- the rising cost of education

- prefer an independent life: urbanisation, improvement of women's status in society and changes in traditional family structure

Why Korean men don't want to have a child?

- long working hours

- the rising cost of education

- prefer an independent life

- planning for later life- 48.6% of South Korea's elderly were in poverty (The Guardian, 2017) even GDP-Gross Domestic Product) of Korea ranked 12th out of 205 countries in terms of in 2018 (The Korea Herald, 2019)

All these ingredients have combined to produce a new social phenomenon in South Korea: the Sampo Generation. The word "Sampo" means to give up three things - relationships, marriage and children.

Defiantly independent, Yun-Hwa says she hasn't given those three things up - she's chosen not to pursue them. She won't say whether she intends to be celibate or to pursue relationships with women.

Speak to South Koreans from older generations about the low fertility rate and the contrast in attitude is sharp. They see people like Yun-Hwa as too individualistic and selfish.

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UK - UK birth rates hit the lowest level since World War Two & Immigration and Minority Birth Rates Driving UK Population Increase

- UK birth rates hit the lowest level since World War Two (Office for National Statistics, 2019).

- The birth rate in England and Wales - measured as a proportion of the total population - hit a new low in 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics (BBC Health, 2019).

However, there has been high total fertility among certain UK-born ethnic minorities (Kulu, K. & Hannemann, T., 2016).

The analysis shows, first, that relatively high second-, third-, and fourth-birth rates are responsible for the elevated total fertility among certain UK-born minorities, especially women of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin. There is little variation in the first-birth rates among natives and immigrant descendants. Second, although fertility differences between ethnic minorities and native British women slightly decrease once religiosity and number of siblings are controlled for, significant differences persist. It could be concluded

that cultural factors account for some elevated fertility among ethnic groups in the UK, whereas the role of education and employment seem to be the only minor.

Real talk in the UK

“As for having my own biological children, I just have never wanted a mini-me. There is so much time and sacrifice into bringing up another human and the responsibility largely remains on the woman. I see the joy children bring to the world but I think there are so many other ways I can experience this without creating my own." -Emma Sexton, Badass Women’s Hour presenter, 41

Why British women don't want to have a child?

- a negative economic impact

- gender inequality at work and home

- prefer an independent life: urbanisation, improvement of women's status in society and changes in traditional family structure

Why British men don't want to have a child?

- a negative economic impact

- prefer an independent life: urbanisation, improvement of women's status in society and changes in traditional family structure

- no enough time and money for raising kids

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Worldwide

The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in their lifetime (it's different to the birth rate which is the number of children born per thousand people each year). Whenever a country's rate drops below approximately 2.1 then populations will eventually start to shrink. More economically developed countries including most of Europe, the US, South Korea and Japan have lower fertility rates. 

Why developing countries have low birth rates?

The social structure, religious beliefs, economic prosperity and urbanisation within each country are likely to affect birth rates as well as abortion rates, Developed countries tend to have a lower fertility rate due to lifestyle choices associated with economic affluence where mortality rates are low, birth control (Nargund, G., 2009).

The global average fertility rate is just below 2.5 children per woman today. Over the last 50 years, the global fertility rate has halved (Roser, M., 2017). And over the course of the modernization of societies, the number of children per woman decreases very substantially. In the pre-modern era, fertility rates of 4.5 to 7 children per woman were common. 

The decline of the fertility rate is one of the most fundamental social changes that happened in human history. It is therefore especially surprising how very rapidly this transition can indeed happen. The rapid speed of the decline in fertility rates brings chaos to society as the government has not enough time to deal with an ageing society. 

This visualization shows the speed of the decline in fertility rates. It took Korea only 18 years for fertility to fall from more than 6 children per woman to fewer than 3 children per woman. China made this transition in 11 years – before the introduction of the one-child policy. The countries which have a rapid speed of the decline in fertility rates regard a declining birthrate as a national emergency as it could bring economy and the disruption of social systems crisis (Shimbun, S., 2017).

We also see from the chart that the speed with which countries can make the transition to low fertility rates has increased over time. In the 19th century, it took the United Kingdom 95 years and the US 82 years to reduce fertility from more than 6 to less than 3.

This is a pattern that we see often in development: those countries that first experience social change take much longer for transitions than those who catch up later: Countries that were catching up increased life expectancy much faster, they reduced child mortality more quickly and were able to grow their incomes much more rapidly.